Alex Rider Book 8: Crocodile Tears

This book was really good. I liked it a lot and thought Alex had a lot of character. The US version has the last chapter take place in Feb and Ale'x birth date is mentioned: Feb 13. The death of the guy that saved Alex three times was THE MOST SHOCKING MOMENT IN all of the books.

For some reason, while I really think highly of this book, I didn't devour it like ARK ANGEL and SNAKEHEAD. I guess at that time I was a new Alex Rider fan. Also I didn't really want it to end that fast, wondering how long it would be before...another one comes out.

Some new things : Alex turns 15 REAL soon AND he seems almost....wanting to do the spy thing. There was one point in the book that made mention that Ian and Mi6 andmaybe even his dad have somehow ingrained the business in him, in his blood and at the end I almost cried when Jack and Alex were talking ("You're not very cross at me, are you?" and "Oh Alex"). This book has a special something that the other books don't but I can't put my finger on it. I Love the other books and prbably this book will not be my favorite (I think ARK ANGEL or SNAKEHEAD has that) but there's something about it that seems...fresh, new and exciting. Another first is that Alex actually killed two people. I know he fired at Major Yu last book and has killed others including Hugo Grief but here, his fight with the man in the bio dome was sort of shocking. as Usual, I felt that I was actually where the book was writing about as almost only Anthony Horowitz can do. While I don't agree with the short story pAs suu ...promotion that way it is done without fans knowing about it or being told, he is still my favorite writer ever, honestly. Somehow his writing speaks to me in a way that most others do not. He's also honest in his writing about the world, characters, and others. He feels realistic when others do not and his characters do not come across as vapid, shallow, unless they are supposed to. Alex, Jack, Smithers, Ben Daniels, Tom Harris, Jerry, Sabina, and even Mrs Jones come off as real people with real fears and are likable, their thoughts well relayed in a dangerous world that is fully described and plotted. NOTHING seems contrived here. A great series and I hope there are more to come.